SPRING AT THE CAPITAL. 167 



ger tree-toad, proceeding from an oak grove just be- 

 yond the boundary. He is a strong scented fellow, 

 and very tough. Yet how beautiful, as he flits about 

 the open woods, connecting the trees by a gentle arc 

 of crimson and white ! This is another bird with a 

 military look. His deliberate, dignified ways, and his 

 bright uniform of red, white, and steel-blue, bespeak 

 him an officer of rank. 



Another favorite beat of mine is northeast of the 

 city. Looking from the Capitol in this direction, 

 scarcely more than a mile distant, you see a broad 

 green hill-slope, falling very gently, and spreading into 

 a large expanse of meadow-land. The summit, if so 

 gentle a swell of greensward may be said to have a 

 summit, is covered with a grove of large oaks ; and, 

 sweeping back out of sight like a mantle, the front line 

 of a thick forest bounds the sides. This emerald land- 

 scape is seen from a number of points in the city. 

 Looking along New York Avenue from Northern Lib- 

 erty Market, the eye glances, as it were, from the red 

 clay of the street, and alights upon this fresh scene in 

 the distance. It is a standing invitation to the citizen 

 to come forth and be refreshed. As I turn from some 

 hot, hard street, how inviting it looks ! I bathe my 

 eyes in it as in a fountain. Sometimes troops of cattle 

 are seen grazing upon it. In June the gathering of 

 the hay may be witnessed. When the ground is cov- 

 ered with snow, numerous stacks, or clusters of stacks, 

 are still left for the eye to contemplate. 



